When he was little, Julius Royale Duenas Cruz starred in several commercials for Hasbro, Leap Frog and Whole Foods. Now, a student at University of Texas at Austin, Cruz has a couple of new projects including the lead in a horror film making its round at film festivals.

Over 10 years ago we first featured Cruz, who at the time was appearing in various commercials and even television. Fast forward to now and Cruz, who is currently a student at UT, is continuing to make waves as an actor. He admits that when he was in middle school, he took a break from acting, wondering if it was something wanted to pursue.

"It was like that 'til around 9th or 10th grade, to where I took a step back, it was during COVID....and I took a step back and looked at what made me happy. And things that I like doing - I rediscovered my passion for acting, storytelling, and that whole side of things so ever since then, I've been kind of hitting really hard," he shared.

And the past year has been eventful for Cruz, as he continued, "It was a good culmination that I think of all the work I've put in, in the past two or three years. A good amount of commercial work I did came out but also there are two films that I did."

Those films include the Lifetime movie He Slid Into Her DMs and Texas Cult House.

"I play the lead," he explained of his role. "It's a horror film, it just came out, its doing its film festival run, they're seeing what film festivals they can get into ad see if we can get it distributed."

When asked if he had a favorite project he's worked on, he says he's learned from everything he's done, but, "I say the most recent film I have done, I had the most growth in, I feel I had the most opportunity to validate and say, yeah, I can do this."

Cruz is majoring in radio, television and film, with a minor in business, has deep Guam roots. His parents are from Mangilao and Chalan Pago. "I have tons of family all in Guam and a bunch here in Killeen, Texas, so I am very in touch with my Chamorro heritage," he said.

He realizes he is in a place that was made possible by the overwhelming support and love he is constantly given. "My immediate family, my mom and dad, they are the people who put me in a place where I could do this and pursue what I want and I'm so grateful. But having the support of the entire family, yeah," he said.

And if anyone is looking to break into the business, he highly recommends acting classes and honing your craft. "There's going to be a lot of no's and there's gonna be a lot of frustration, with lots of things- whether it's the no's your getting or your skills are where you want it to be...you get turned down by agencies or agents....as long as you are willing to put in the work, and do your research, and know it's a big commitment," he said.